Coast Guard, fishermen rescue sinking boat off Jonesport

JONESPORT, Maine — The Coast Guard teamed with the crew of a fishing vessel to rescue another fishing boat that was in danger of sinking Saturday.

The Coast Guard received a call about 6 a.m. that the 34-foot Lady Annette was in distress, said Ross Ruddell, a Coast Guard spokesman in Boston. The Lady Annette, which was near Great Wass Island — adjacent to Beals Island — with only the operator aboard, was flooding.

Rescue crews from Coast Guard Station Jonesport launched aboard a 47-foot motor lifeboat and rushed to the scene along with a fishing boat, the Ashley N.

When the Coast Guard arrived, the crew passed a dewatering pump to the operator of the Lady Annette, and he used the pump to help control flooding near the propeller shaft.

When the flooding was controlled, the Ashley N towed the Lady Annette back to Jonesport.

“The fishermen up here always help each other without hesitation,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Kurt Hein, operations unit coordinator at the Coast Guard’s northern New England command center in Portland.

“This is a great example of how the Coast Guard and local fishing community come together quickly to make sure distressed mariners get home safely,” said Hein.

Ruddell did not know the names of the operators of the Lady Annette or the Ashley N.